Chapter 223 Arrival
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I still remember the look on Suzuri’s face when she stopped in front of the staircase leading to the deepest floor—a reaction I almost never saw from her.
The passages connecting one floor to the next were usually simple and narrow, but this final route was different from the moment it came into view. It spread wide from the entrance like the grand staircase of a royal castle, and after climbing for roughly a hundred meters, it reached a landing before disappearing into the darkness above.
It had been two years since Yui joined our party.
During that time, we pushed deeper into the resource-rich floors while expanding our activities outside the Workshop, yet the schedule we once thought realistic slipped away before we knew it. The biggest reason was simple: from the eighty-fourth floor onward, Suzuri could no longer scout ahead. Without her support, we had to search the ten-kilometer area surrounding each entrance ourselves.
As a result, we were forced to camp outside Safety Areas and advance cautiously through territory that never seemed willing to give us a break. By the time we finally reached the ninety-second floor, roughly two months had passed in exterior time. The last stretch was the usual nightmare of endless monsters and status ailments. I would genuinely like to hear the intellectual goddess explain how anyone was supposed to conquer that place without the skill combinations born from our Familial Workshop.
At least the terrain itself was straightforward. The floor was a flattened spherical cavern nearly twenty kilometers across, and because the exit Safety Area was visible from the start, crossing it took less time than any floor since the eighty-third.
”We’re here now, so I think it’s fine if we move forward together,” I said while gesturing toward the staircase. “We’re still inside a Safety Area. Just because the structure looks unusual doesn’t mean it’s dangerous.”
After taking a moment to appreciate how far we had come, we gathered in front of the staircase and studied its strange design. Suzuri immediately volunteered to scout ahead, although I caught a trace of tension in her expression. A change in structure could mean a change in purpose, and if that was true, relying on the usual assumption that a Safety Area was automatically safe would be foolish.
I suggested that we move as a group, partly because the staircase bothered me and partly because I doubted Mataaha-sama would resort to a cheap trap at the very end.
However, Suzuri shook her head.
”No need to worry about me.”
After saying that, she stepped onto the staircase before anyone could object. Less than five minutes later she returned through the Workshop and reported that a massive door blocked the path five landings below.
”So there was no danger up to the door?”
”I hope so,” Suzuri replied. “Still, we should stay alert. First, we need to figure out how to open it.”
Normally, the moment we reached a Safety Area, everyone relaxed and released their defensive skills so they could enjoy the feeling of safety again. This time, perhaps because we were standing at the very end of the Labyrinth, nobody lowered their guard. With Divine Grace and Holy Armor active, we descended as if we were marching through enemy territory.
Nothing happened.
No traps activated, no monsters appeared, and no hidden mechanism reacted to our numbers. Before long, we reached the enormous doors without incident.
”Ugh, those look heavy,” Marina muttered. “Should we push them? Even if the hinges move smoothly, the doors themselves must weigh a ridiculous amount.”
”Now that I think about it,” I said, “the entire Labyrinth has been one continuous structure from the first-floor gate all the way here. If they’ve sealed this area off with a door like this, maybe they’re protecting the dungeon core.”
”Or perhaps it is meant to prevent anyone from escaping once a guardian appears, milord,” Ashley suggested.
At the bottom of the staircase—which now felt more like a grand corridor than a stairway—stood a stone door as massive as the gate on the first floor. It was carved from the same white stone found throughout the Safety Areas, yet its sheer presence made it feel as though everything beyond it belonged to a different world.
”Please don’t say that,” I groaned. “I have no interest in fighting something capable of killing people who cleared the ninety-second floor. We should prepare for the possibility, but I suspect Mataaha-sama wants people who have proven themselves worthy of using the Labyrinth. If that’s true, this door probably exists to prevent theft rather than keep challengers trapped.”
Labyrinths in other countries were said to share the same basic structure. If rival groups ever raced through an easier one, the smartest strategy would be to let someone else pay the price of clearing it and then seize the reward at the end. If that were possible, the kind of dedicated caretakers Mataaha-sama hoped to find would never survive.
In my experience, the goddess preferred straightforward tests that followed a clear progression. Because of that, I doubted this door existed to harm those who had already overcome every challenge placed before them.
”Even so,” Marina replied, “we should keep that possibility in mind. You’re the only one who’s actually met Mataaha-sama. More importantly, how do we open this thing—whoa!?”
The moment Marina’s gauntleted hand touched the stone, the doors began to swing inward on their own.
Not only did they move effortlessly, they opened all the way without any additional force, making it obvious that the door was never meant to stop those who had reached this point.
”Don’t look at me like that!” Marina protested as her cheeks turned red. “L-look! There’s another door just like it further inside! I bet this one closes before the other one opens!”
Sure enough, a second stone door waited beyond the first.
Marina immediately suspected a trap, but I saw it differently. If someone intended to trap us, what would they accomplish by doing it here? A cheap ambush felt completely out of place for a trial sitting just before the finish line, and even if some powerful guardian appeared, the space between the doors was far too small for the kind of chaotic battle we had survived on the ninety-second floor.
The arrangement reminded me more of a double bulkhead.
Beyond the second door almost certainly rested the dungeon core itself—the source of Mataaha-sama’s divine power. If that was true, then the area housing it would be a sacred place where ordinary disputes were forbidden. The mechanism likely ensured that only one group occupied the passage between the doors before allowing anyone to proceed.
”That sounds right,” I said. “Suzuri, check whether the second door opens. If anything feels wrong, come back immediately. And once you’re through, confirm whether you can still return to the Workshop.”
”At once, milord!”
Even after Suzuri crossed the threshold, the inner door remained closed. At the same time, the outer door stayed open, almost as though it were waiting for the rest of us.
”This is it, then?” I asked.
”Yeah,” Marina replied. “We didn’t come all this way just to turn back. Besides, if neither Yui nor Ai-sama is warning us, I doubt we’re facing something beyond what we can handle.”
Everyone who had joined me—including Ashley and the others who had willingly taken on the role of servants—had placed their trust in this journey. Turning back now out of fear would betray that trust. If crossing this double-door passage was the final challenge, then overcoming it was exactly what we were supposed to do.
”Everyone ready? Yui, are you okay with this too?”
”Yes! If it’s with Yuuri, I’ll go anywhere!”
”My life is always with you, milord.”
”Yep! I’m totally up for it!”
The answers came back immediately.
Yui sounded especially carefree, almost as though she were quietly assuring us that there was nothing to fear beyond the doors, even if she could not say so directly. We had reached this point by remaining cautious at every step, but constant caution carried its own burden. At times, the pressure became so great that it threatened to cloud judgment. Whenever that happened, Yui’s simple faith had a way of clearing my thoughts.
”Alright,” I said. “Stay alert until the very end. Stick together and move slowly.”
As Marina activated Holy Armor, the party advanced as one and entered the space between the two doors.
Just as expected, the first door began to close behind us.
”Watch every direction!” I ordered. “If nothing happens, hold position!”
”Hmph. At least she’s not slamming it shut to scare us,” Suzuri said. “Mataaha-sama is surprisingly polite.”
”She is teasing us, milord,” Ashley replied. “Yui-dono serves a kind-hearted goddess.”
”Uuu…” Yui whimpered. “Suzuri, I’m happy you’re defending me, but please don’t direct the criticism at me!”
Despite the tension, a laugh escaped me.
Nothing happened apart from the slow closing of the first door, and before long we found ourselves sealed between the two.
”Still nothing,” I said. “This really does feel like a checkpoint.”
”I hope so,” Marina replied. “Alright, let’s move. We should try the second door.”
The white stone walls shut out every sound from the ninety-second floor. Even after nearly a minute of waiting in silence, we sensed no danger. Finally, Marina approached the second door. She looked tense, but not enough to resort to Holy Sword or Luster. After being scolded for damaging a Safety Area in the past, she clearly wanted to avoid blasting sacred architecture unless absolutely necessary.
”Marina, you do it,” I said. “I may be the one claiming the Labyrinth, but we came this far for your sake too.”
”O-okay! Got it!”
Still maintaining formation, Marina reached out and placed her hand against the stone.
The second door opened just as easily as the first.
Beyond it stretched a chamber that looked like a miniature version of the ninety-second floor. Unlike the upper cavern, which had been shaped for battle with broad ledges and slopes, this one was filled with white stone formations that rose from floor and ceiling like giant crystal pillars.
”How beautiful…” Ashley whispered.
”Look,” Marina said. “Water’s flowing everywhere. If we use those stone pillars as stepping stones, we can cross.”
”Everyone, look over there!” Suzuri called out.
Because the chamber was as bright as a Safety Area, we could clearly see a small object resting at the center of the bowl-shaped cavern.
”No way… Is that the dungeon core?”
”It looks as though it’s changing shape,” Ashley observed.
The object never held a single form. One moment it resembled a sphere with horns, the next a strange polyhedron, and then something else entirely. It turned endlessly, transforming like a puzzle whose pieces never stopped moving.
The sight carried a mystery that felt far beyond human craftsmanship.
I found myself staring at it until Ashley’s voice pulled me back to reality.
”More importantly, Yuuri… isn’t there a woman standing beside the dungeon core?”
”W-wait, Ashley!” Marina cried. “We’ve come all this way, so don’t start telling ghost stories now!”
Ignoring Marina’s panic, I followed Ashley’s gaze.
A dark-skinned beauty in a blue dress stood beside the shifting core, calmly adjusting her glasses.
—
Summary:
The party reaches the final, grand staircase leading to the deepest level of the Labyrinth, characterized by its unusual architectural scale and presence of a heavy double-door mechanism. After overcoming initial tensions, the group successfully navigates through the sealed portal into an inner sanctum where the shifting ‘dungeon core’ awaits. The atmosphere of success is abruptly punctured when the protagonist notices a mysterious woman standing guard over the artifact.
—
Trivia:
The 92nd floor’s terrain was a flattened sphere 20km in diameter, making it relatively quick to traverse despite the mob difficulty.
The ‘dungeon core’ is confirmed to be the source of Goddess Mataaha’s divine power.
The Labyrinth’s multi-door bulkhead mechanism is speculated to be an anti-theft design to prevent rival factions from stealing the core.
Suzuri had been unable to serve as a scout from the 84th floor onward, requiring the party to search inch by inch.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Suzuri – A tall, statuesque shinobi with ink-black hair, pale skin, and a toned form, this nameless scout survived 80 years of Labyrinth petrification. Highly professional yet deeply loyal to her comrades and the party leader, Yuuri, she serves as his fiercely loyal herald. She uses skills like Darkness Wrap, reveals Labyrinth secrets, and selflessly competes for his favor as a devoted informant.
• Yui – Once the goddess of Shelm, Yuuri’s rainbow-eyed, silver-haired human servant-bride and wife boasts a voluptuous, soft-curved form with a throbbing red-black crotch tattoo. Currently lying unconscious in a restrictive livery used as a cushion during Yuuri’s act with Suzuri, she remains a cheerful, hyper-energetic party member who expresses deep affection for him with no concern for danger.
• Mataaha – A labyrinth goddess with brown skin, silver eyes, and long black hair. Resembling a stern, intellectual figure like Mikasa Ackerman, she manages her trials with a mysterious, sharp demeanor. Empowered with divine authority, her complex persona defines how she tests and interacts with those entering her realm.
• Marina – First Princess of Restea and leader of the Marina-dono faction, this high-standing royal cemented her identity as a capable leader by conquering the Labyrinth with her escort group. Now a golden-gauntlet-wearing adventurer serving a free-spirited goddess, she navigates dangerous depths while often misinterpreting complex dungeon mechanisms with a distinct, nervous intensity.
• Ashley – Daughter of Count Alegria, this poised, fiercely loyal noblewoman once adventured in the Capital Labyrinth. Now a royal attendant, she has a graceful, deferential personality, displaying extreme politeness to the party leader. Elegant and dignified, she secretly admires Yuuri, is a potential aide for his dressing duties, and forms deep relationships with others through her unwavering devotion.
• Ai – A newly formed sub-divinity who manages the world’s Skills and serves as a high-level, party-connected power source. Her intense burst of divine “ki” almost bleached Yuuri’s wicked thoughts. She views Yuuri as an “Elder Brother,” declaring genuine affection and deep trust for him based on his sheer efficiency with her Skills.
• Yuuri – An arrogant commoner who conquered the Labyrinth, this experienced male protagonist feigned being “Skillless” to hide high-level garment, intimacy, and Divine Protection skills. Dismissed by the Count as untalented, Roeni’s student is actually a master distribution mastermind. He leads a party of companions including Yui, Suzuri, and a bound girl, treating his wives and servants with a fiercely possessive, dominant aura.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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